Womens Ice Climbing Glove

I am looking for a warm ice climbing glove for my girlfriend. She gets cold hands very easily. Right now she is using a ski glove. With the insulation all around the hand, it seams like she is over gripping. I came across the black diamond mercury gloves which seem nice but does anyone know of any other similar ones. Something with insulation on the back of the hand so the tools will be easier to grip. She has very small hands so would rather go with a womens specific. thanks

When my husband and I started ice climbing he started leading a lot earlier than I did (he managed to get an extra season under his belt while I was recovering from injury). So when we'd get out the crag he's always be the first one to climb, and depending on the lead that could have taken a while.

It wasn't until I started leading and taking the first climb on the day that he started getting the barfies.....and I finally wasn't suffering from them!

Moral of the story - I don't have a good glove suggestion for your gf (I usually climb in liner gloves), but there may be things other than gloves that will help her cold hand situation.

My wife likes the OR Lodestars in dry conditions the Punishers if it's moist.

We also wear mitts belaying. Stick your climbing gloves in between your jacket and mid layer inside your jacket when wearing the mitts

beccs wrote:When my husband and I started ice climbing he started leading a lot earlier than I did (he managed to get an extra season under his belt while I was recovering from injury). So when we'd get out the crag he's always be the first one to climb, and depending on the lead that could have taken a while. It wasn't until I started leading and taking the first climb on the day that he started getting the barfies.....and I finally wasn't suffering from them! Moral of the story - I don't have a good glove suggestion for your gf (I usually climb in liner gloves), but there may be things other than gloves that will help her cold hand situation.

yea I try to make sure she stays hydrated and keeps eating. I'm sure there is more we can do. We are just top roping now and I am trying to make sure she doesn't get turned off to the sport when we are just starting out. She has mittens for belaying but her hands still get cold while climbing. She tried my lodestarrs this weekend while climbing and she claimed her hands were still bad.

The Alpine Alibis are almost exactly what you're describing. Dexterous palms and Primaloft backs. They're also super expensive and not THAT warm. Your hands will still freeze if you aren't smart about keeping your hands happy.

My hands get cold very easily. I've found that any time my hands are cold, it's user error, not the gloves. I make a continuous effort to keep my bloddflow to my hands. Great gloves do make climbing easier, but they aren't the reason I don't get the barfies much anymore.

One should be able to climb ice in temperature down to -15c in most of the thinner ice climbing gloves. There are many reasons why people don't get good results, I'll try to list some of them.

Leashes too tight or adjusted too high. You shouldn't be hanging in them. They should have just the slightest bit of slack as you hang of the tools.

Over gripping the tools. Be it either from fear or from huge gloves that don't allow good contact with the handle/grip. A handle is just too big for her hand. Slippery combination of palm material and grip material.

Cold climbing gloves. Put them inside the jacket when not in use. Keep them dry. Carry extra gloves. They don't need to be super warm but require great dexterity and a sticky palm. 40 grams of primaloft one should do it. Not be too tight either.

Belay gloves not warm enough or to tight.

Body core isn't warm enough. Put on a hat under the helmet. A big fat belayer parka and flip up the hood. Even if you don't think you need it. It's easier to prevent the heat loss when you're warm than to warm up once you've lost the heat.

Could be a medial thing. Bad blood circulation.

Butch up, is not mid summer rock climbing. 😉

You could try the OR women's luminary gloves. Good warmth, decent dexterity. The gauntlets keep snow/water/ice off the wrists (something I have always found only serves to make my hands colder because it can seep under the glove edge or get on the hand when removing gloves). Removable inner liners mean she can go either way.

+1 for gloves/mitts inside the jacket when not using them.

Forcefully extending the forearm while at a stance helps too - like trying to shake off water from the hand straight down at the ground. This forces warm blood into the hand.